Recommendation 4

HM Government Acknowledged

The Government disagrees with the Committee’s assessment of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK. UNBOXED is an ambitious programme designed to bring people together in a UK-wide celebration of creativity. The programme has clear objectives: to bring people together and showcase the UK’s creativity and innovation to the world. It is doing this through a series of groundbreaking creative projects that celebrate the best of UK science, technology, engineering, arts and maths (STEAM). UNBOXED is bringing people together in a truly UK-wide celebration. It is delivering free-to-attend cultural experiences for millions of people across the UK, in over 80 rural, urban and coastal areas, alongside strong digital and broadcast engagement. Each project is an exploration of how creativity has the power to change the world, from shaping new possibilities for how we work, live and play to creating unforgettable free experiences that spark imaginations, ignite joy and enrich lives. UNBOXED opened in Paisley on 1 March with About Us, a spectacular light and music show telling the story of 13.8 billion years of history. More projects have since opened - Dreamachine, artwork seen with your eyes closed; Tour de Moon, a travelling festival of ideas for young people and their families; Our Place in Space, a 10 km scale-model sculpture trail of the solar system; Dandelion, the largest community growing experiment ever undertaken in Scotland; and Green Space, Dark Skies, new lighting technology creating art in areas of outstanding natural beauty, are all live. UNBOXED is receiving an overwhelmingly positive public and critical response, and approximately 120,000 people attended events in the first month alone. From unique audience experiences to a UK-wide schools programme, we are confident that UNBOXED will demonstrate lasting value to people throughout the UK. UNBOXED will also play a key role in promoting Britain abroad throughout 2022 and beyond. Working with the GREAT campaign, Visit Britain, FCDO and DIT, UNBOXED is providing content and media opportunities to support international priorities and inward investment. In addition, UNBOXED is delivering a dynamic programme of international engagement to showcase the very best of the UK’s creativity to the world. The creative programme was celebrated at the world-renowned South by Southwest Conference and Festivals in Texas in March 2022. Representatives of the ten commissioned projects promoted UNBOXED and delivered engagement and advocacy activities by partnering up with the Department for International Trade at its UK House venue to explore how creative collaboration works in practice. This was the first in a series of international platforms hosting UNBOXED over the year. As an international partner of UNBOXED, the British Council is supporting the delivery of significant aspects of the international engagement programme, including convening a global network to identify international opportunities and promote the programme across the world. They have directly worked with a number of the commissions to devise international partnerships and activities. This includes working with Our Place in Space to develop two international residency programmes for young people in Vietnam and South Africa; PoliNations to develop a cultural exchange with Pakistan as part of the British Council’s UK - Pakistan Season collaboration; and Dandelion to deliver five new music commissions from artists in South Asia and Latin America. The British Council is also supporting the translation and dissemination of UNBOXED digital assets to Japan and South Korea, and is helping to develop promotional opportunities in China as part of the 50th anniversary of China-UK relations this year. UNBOXED has arranged training and consultancy to support the ten commissions with the development of international touring opportunities post-2022, particularly in relation